Dead Wish
by Song of Azure Moon
Summary: AU: Small exchange of fists between Akainu and Ace in the Marieford leads to someone dying, and it's not Ace. Warnings: character death and characters may seem OOC. Rated T just in case.
1. Prologue: Tired he was

Yay, my first fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece and I can think of several good reasons why I shouldn't…

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He was tired. Tired of all this fighting. But even with all the stress gained from the battle, he carried on because he had to. He had his nakama waiting for him and he couldn't let them down. He also had his brother beside him ruing towards Whitebeard's ship. He had successfully rescued him from the execution platform with the help of his newfound allies. They weren't even very far from the ships when things started to go downhill. That Akainu-guy had said something that seemed to make Ace angry which led to Ace stopping and facing the marine admiral head on.

'What was he doing? They had to escape as soon as possible!'

But his throat was dry so he couldn't say a word to his brother. It didn't take long for Ace and Akainu to engage in battle where they shot fists made of fire against each other. It was clear from the beginning that Ace wouldn't win that battle since his attacks didn't have any effect against Akainu but he had gotten several nasty burns in his arms and torso from Akainu's attacks. Ace seemed to realize the situation too and started running again. But when Ace had his back turned on the admiral, he launched a giant fist made of lava towards Ace (and any unlucky ones that happened to be nearby).

Luffy's body reacted instinctively. When the magma-fist nearly reached his brother he took a step backwards and jumped into its way, saving his brother in process. When the fist penetrated his body, for a short time he felt like his whole body burned and then… He felt nothing. It didn't take long for him to start to lose consciousness. The voices and blurs around him didn't seem to matter at all as he began to slip into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness. Thinking was becoming more difficult as his breaths began to cease and heartbeats slowed until they completely stopped. He could barely even think when the darkness finally took him in and soothed him into sleep.

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Luffy didn't know if this was what death felt like. In fact he didn't even know if he was dead. It was dark everywhere, yet the darkness didn't feel threatening but rather soothing. Just like when you close your eyes. Then a voice broke that serenity:

"Oh, for God's sake Luffy. Open your eyes and stop dreaming!"

Luffy didn't know why, but he did as he was told. It was bright out there so he had wait until his eyes adjusted to the light. After a few seconds he could already see everything clearly. He seemed to be in some kind of forest though he couldn't see anyone who could have said anything to him. Then he heard a rather amused voice say:

"I'm here Luffy, behind you."

Luffy slowly turned to look behind him and paled at seeing the person standing there.

"Sabo?"

A/N - I know, it sucks… but I'm just a beginner in writing fanfiction so please don't expect me to have incredible story-telling skills. I have lots of ideas for my fics but it's quite difficult to turn them into decent stories. I'm also a slow writer so I'm not going to update very often.

S.O.A.M. is off.


	2. Prologue 2: DespairRidden hearts

Disclaimer: One Piece is something I'll never own. And that's good for all the fans of the series.

Special thanks for darkness34, katyha and mugiwara-cristal because they faved this story. Thank you guys!

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Two days after the war.

A table slammed to the brown wooden wall, followed shortly by a couple of chairs. Upon making contact with the wall the furniture shattered into several pieces that crumbled to the floor. The person that threw the earlier furniture was trying to grab a closet at the corner of the room but was stopped by a tanned man with blond hair.

"You know Ace, throwing all those things to the wall won't solve anything… And that table wasn't exactly cheap…" The blond man stated.

"Shut up! It's none of your problems." Ace replied.

"Considering your mental state and situation we are in, I would say it is my business, you know." The blond man answered, drew a breath and continued:

"Ace, you have been acting like this ever since the funeral of our dead brothers and sisters was held. You wouldn't mind sharing your problems with me?"

"Shut up! It's my own problem. Now, go away and leave me alone!" Marco just sighed and replied:

"Wallowing in self-pity won't bring your brother back. Nothing will. He is dead and there is nothing we can do about it, you know. The only thing you can do right now is to go on and I highly doubt that your brother would want you to wallow in your self-pity like this." Ace was quiet for few seconds before he started sobbing and quietly started to speak again:

"Have you ever lost a person who was more than brother to you? Someone you would trust with your life and deepest secrets. Have you ever seen that kind of person die in front of your eyes because of your stupidity and inability to save him!" Marco was taken aback by Ace's sudden outburst but he calmed down and answered:

"Yes, I have lost several persons that meant more than life for me. And every night I think that 'What if I had done something differently? What if I managed to save them?' But doing that won't do any good for you. You just have to accept your losses and move on, you know." Marco calmly replied. Ace was quiet for some time before he asked:

"How is pops holding up? Is he going to be okay?" Marco smirked and answered:

"The nurses say that the wound only burned his skin and some medical whatnot that I didn't exactly understand but in short it means that he is going to be okay, you know. Tough old man he is." Ace let a smile come to his face and spoke:

"Marco."

"Yes, what is it?"

"… You are a true friend."

Marco slowly started to smile and replied:

"Any time. Now, I believe pops wishes to see all the division commanders. Are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

After Marco left, Ace sighed and sat on his bed. He let a lone tear creep on his face and looked at the sky through the window. It was a clear day and the Sun shone brightly.

'Where ever you are Luffy, please don't worry about me. I'll make through this like I have always done.'

Ace smiled, took off his hat and looked at it.

'You always had your strawhat on your head. Kinda like I have this hat and Sabo had his top hat. We were like some kind of hat-brothers.'

He allowed himself a small laugh and started to rise up. It was then that he noted a self-repairing vivrecard on his hat. The white area was slowly gaining more and more surface. Ace could just stupidly look at it and think:

'What the…'

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Two days after the Marineford war, a newspaper had been spread all over the world. It told the world about the death of 'mugiwara Luffy' for the World Government didn't have any other good news for the world because 'Firefist Ace' had been freed from his execution and Whitebeard and his allies had successfully escaped. The paper even reached the hands of scattered Luffy's crew. They all had their own thoughts about the news but one thought went through all of their heads:

'NO!'

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In Sabaody Archipelago

A grey-haired man sat on a coach in Shakky's bar in the 13th grove. He was currently reading the day's newspaper and was shocked to see the first-page news. He slowly looked at the replenishing vivrecard on his hand and back at the newspaper. He had just one thought about the situation:

'What the heck is going on in here?'

Even though he was momentarily confused, he soon formulated a plan in his head.

'I see. You are one surprising youngster Luffy.'

He smiled and went to prepare for the upcoming days. It was going to be an interesting situation later…

Second prologue of this story. The story itself is going to start in the next chapter so please, be patient my dear readers. Thanks for everyone that faved my story before this chapter! I really appreciate it!

Press the button you should and fulfill your destiny…


	3. Ch1: Fellowship of the Heaven

Disclaimer: One Piece is something I'll never own. And that's good for all the fans of the series.

Special thanks for mugiwara-cristal, 7saix-puppy7, Whimsical Dreamers and Vaguefuture because they reviewed!

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Back to Luffy two days earlier

"Sabo?" Luffy said before looking more closely at the person, upon closer inspection it was impossible for that man to be Sabo: the man standing there was at least 20 while Sabo was 10 when he died and this man hadn't lost any teeth unlike Sabo who had one missing. They did have same kind of clothes though they were different in size and this man's clothes didn't have any dirt or stains unlike Sabo's, whose clothes were always dirty from fighting and moving in the forest. And since when did he have analyzing skills this good? The man in front of him just smiled and answered:

"Yep, it's me." Luffy had his eyes bulging out of their sockets and shouted:

"You're Sabo!" Sabo looked puzzled and answered:

"Yes. Who did you think I was?" Luffy just grinned sheepishly and replied:

"Never mind that. More importantly, what is this place? And where is the food?"

"This what we call Heaven, and food is served in the cities but you can find fruits, berries and animals which you can hunt right here. Now, I'd like to know how you died and how you lived."

Luffy proceeded to give a simple summary of the events which led to his rather early demise. After that he told him about his adventures with his crew and about all the good and bad guys they met. The stories were taking long so they set up a campfire when the sky started to get darker. When he was finished, Sabo was looking at him like some kind of a circus-freak.

"You certainly seemed to have a lot of excitement during your life. By the way, can you describe me this Bon-chan you mentioned a few times? Seeing that she died a hero's death, there's a chance that I have seen her here."

"Who has seen me, YO?" Said a person who had appeared out of nowhere. The man wore a white trench coat and some other weird clothes with unknown names. There was a text in the trench coat which said 'gay way'. Luffy's and Sabo's reactions were completely different. Whereas Luffy looked like the Christmas had come early, Sabo was clutching his heart and muttering:

"Ohmygod, anevilokamaisgoingtokillme…"

"Bon-chan! How did you find us?" Luffy asked before hugging the okama.

"I had this feeling in my gut that something interesting was here. The power of friendship will prevail even in death, it seems!" Bentham aka Bon-chan delightedly replied.

"Who is this guy Luffy?" Sabo asked after he got over his shock.

"This is my dear friend Bon-chan!"

"What!"

After several minutes of correcting some of Sabo's little misunderstandings, which most definitely didn't include thinking that Bon-chan was female, the little group had sat around the bonfire to talk about things. They had some great time telling each about their adventures and feasting on the fruits and meat. Sabo and Bentham came along greatly despite Sabo having a phobia for okamas. The sun was starting to rise when Luffy decided to ask some questions that had bothered him:

"I've been thinking about some things"

"What do you mean Luffy?" Sabo replied

"First of all why have my analyzing skills gotten better? Second, are there any seas in here? Third, do spirits of ships come here? Fourth, why are pirates allowed to come to this 'Heaven'?" Luffy asked while showing the numbers of the questions with his fingers. Sabo just chuckled and started to explain

"Well, coming to Heaven apparently all of your diseases, so you might have had a sickness that lowered your IQ. There is a sea around 600 meters from here and klabautermanns are quite rare so I don't know if they enter Heaven upon their death. If you wish to see, is your old ship is here, then we should go to the beach and try calling for it. As for the fourth question, person's worth is apparently decided by his/her heart's content, not by their deeds. Those who are deemed bad are sent to Hell to have their souls cleansed and reborn to the world. Here in Heaven rebirth is optional and quite rare since…." Luffy listened to the end only half-heartedly. The thought of seeing Merry again was all he could think about and it filled him with both joy and sadness. What would Merry think about him if they would meet? It took only a second to make his decision:

"Sabo, Bon-chan. I want to go and see the sea." The question was answered with two smiles and laughter.

" Hahahahahahaa! I'm surprised that you didn't ask this earlier Luffy, but sure, why not. To the beach we go!"

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Back to the present with Rayleigh.

It had been long time since he last had a good swim. He really would have liked to stop in order to enjoy the feeling of floating calmly in the water without any worries but he had something important to do. Not so long ago he had found out that when you split a vivrecard to several persons, you could pick the direction to a piece of your choosing. Also the card had different 'burning areas' for the split pieces if they were imbued with person's haki. Two days ago Luffy's area had completely burned off since he had died in the Marineford war. Still, few hours ago the area had completely replenished itself and was weakly pulling itself to the location Rayleigh was heading towards. If his theory would prove to be correct, things would get quite interesting later on...

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Guess who? –competition. Basically you just guess whose thoughts these are. All of this happened in the story too:

He was the one for her. Why did he have to die? Why? She loved him with all of her heart. She would have done anything for him. Why all the men had to be so reckless and stupid? Why they never thought about those that care for them? Why all the good people had to die young? Why it had to be Luffy that died…? Why…? Why…?

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A/N – I'm sorry about a great mistake that I have made in this story. It's about vivrecards. Splits that were taken later from the card's creation don't have the power to tell the person's life-force. But for this story's sake, let's assume that they do.

Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed but writing the upper part of this story was quite annoying so I tried to get over it as soon as possible.

Thanks for all those that faved my story! S.O.A.M. is off!

Pressing that button would make me extremely happy…


	4. Ch2: Against the Wind

Disclaimer: One Piece is something I'll never own. And that's good for all the fans of the series.

Special thanks for 7saix-puppy7, Whimsical Dreamers, greentulip, mugiwara-cristal, seamy and VLS because they reviewed!

"**Lalalala!" – **spirit/entity talking

'**Lalalala!' – **spirit/entity thinking

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Back to Luffy one day earlier- at the beach.

"The sea seems so… calm" Luffy said, and indeed there wasn't a single wave on the surface of the large mass of water. Even though it was extremely windy out there the waves refused to form. It was like the sea was solid or something.

"Aye, they call it 'Sea of Serenity' because there are never any waves in here" Sabo answered and demonstrated by throwing a rock to the water. It just sank there without disturbing the calm surface at all. Then he continued to talk:

"I believe you wanted to call your ship Luffy."

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Luffy sheepishly replied and scratched his neck.

"Merryyyy! Come here! Where are you!" Luffy shouted. Sabo sweatdropped and commented:

"Eh, Luffy?"

"What is it? I'm trying to call Merry."

"By calling for him I meant that you must contact him with your heart."

"That's kind of clichy…"

"I know, but just do it!"

"Fine, fine…"

Luffy went all silent and concentrated. Bentham, who had been silent during this whole confrontation, still remained silent. At first nothing seemed to happen so Luffy started to try harder. After waiting for few minutes a figure appeared in the horizon. It kept coming closer and closer until it was about 20 meters from the group. It was a small ship with a figurehead of sheep. To Sabo it was just any ship but to Luffy and Bentham…

"Merrrryyyyyyy!"

"Sheep-chan!" They both shouted at the same time. Luffy especially was so delighted that he decided to jump on the ship… Only to fall into the water about two meters before reaching the rail of Merry… It didn't take long for him to reach the surface of water and when he did, he started screaming:

"Gaahhh! I'm gonna drown ! Help! Huh, why I'm not sinking and why I'm not feeling weak at all?" But before Sabo could answer, Luffy had already climbed on the ship. Sabo and Bentham waited until the ship reached the beach and climbed in. Sabo sighed and started explaining:

"You see, when a person dies he loses his or her devil fruit upon entering Heaven or Hell. The fruits are collected into a cyclone that rampages in these waters. It draws all the power from waves, thus the calmness. The fruits spin around in that cyclone for several years before they go back to the world of living to be eaten again. Does that clear things?"

"Yes, but what would happen if a person was hit by that cyclone?"

"Dunno, that's never happened bef… Wait a second. Do you actually want to hit that?"

"Nah, I'm just going on an adventure, you wanna come with me?"

"Are you crazy! No one has ever done something like that! They say that you fall into the Hell if you go too far away to the sea!" Sabo shouted.

"Sabo. We're pirates, we love to adventure. Our home is at the sea. Be it Heaven, be it Hell, but nothing can stop us from going for an adventure! If we fail, then we fail and that's it! But I'm not going to just sit around and do nothing when there's a vast sea in front of me! What kind of Heaven would prevent a man from going to the sea!" Luffy drew a breath and continued:

"Besides, I wanna see that miracle cyclone!"Sabo just gawked and looked stupidly at Luffy. He was in shock. How could he have forgotten about pirate's life and the thrill of adventure? How…? Bentham instead was bouncing with excitement. The thought of adventure made his heart beat faster and veins fill with excitement. He couldn't contain his excitement anymore and shouted:

"YOSH! With the power of friendship we will go for an adventure like no other! Count me in Straw-chan!" Sabo had finally recovered from his shock. He drew a long breath and sighed:

"Fine, I'll come with you. You need someone with a sense of responsibility on the ship. Now we should stock some food and clear water into the ship. And then we need to…"

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"All right, it's time to go for an adventure!" Luffy shouted. Bentham had tears in his eyes and was muttering something about friendship while Sabo was looking through the ship. Merry slowly started to move towards the horizon, faster and faster. During the speed-up Luffy was talking with Merry through a mental link they had discovered:

'**Why did you die Luffy? You had much to live for and yet you are here.'**

'There are times when your own life doesn't hold as much value as someone else's. I had one of those moments and did what I had to do. '

'**I kind of understand what you mean. I hoped I could carry all of you to adventures but since you are dead…'**

'Huh? What do you mean by carrying all of us? I thought you died when we were at Water 7.'

'**Yes, I did die back then, but only for few days. I was pulled back to the world of living and to my delight I noted that I could carry you again as Thousand Sunny. I can also apparently enter the otherworld as my original self' **Luffy was starting to tear up at this point. The thought that Merry had never left them made him feel happier that he had ever felt before.

'So you have been with us the whole time. Sniff. Guess Bon-chan is right about friendship overcoming all difficulties…'

"Luffy! We are crossing the paths with the Devil Fruit Cyclone! Come here and help us row!" Sabo shouted. Luffy wiped his tears away and ran to his friends as fast as he could. He grabbed an oar and joined Sabo's and Bentham's efforts of steering the ship away from the cyclone. It wasn't much use though since the storm was already upon them. The paranormal cyclone soon had them trapped in its center. The thought going in all of their minds was:

"Aw crap…"

Chapter end

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Guess who? –competition. Basically you just guess whose thoughts these are. The one that gets the most correct answers by seventh chapter gets a special award. The correct answer last time was Boa Hancock. All of this happened in the story too:

He had arrived too late. Sure, Ace was rescued and Whitebeard's armada was retreating but Luffy had died. It filled him with memories from the visits to Fuusha village and the funny little boy he had met there. It was truly a sad day when your friend falls in battle he shouldn't have even participated in. But it wasn't time to think about that now! He had a war to stop and what the heck was that pink-haired kid doing?

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A/N – Sorry about making you wait, I have lots of stuff going on in my life so… Hope you enjoyed this! I'm also slowly starting to write my 'project JUAN'…

Also, Bentham (Mr.2 Bon Kurei) is modeled after Gai in this story with the exception that he can stay quiet.

Thanks for all those that faved my story! S.O.A.M. is off!

Pressing that button would make me extremely happy…


	5. Author's note

A/N

As many of you may have noticed, I haven't updated this story for a long time. I don't have any good excuses to explain this outrageous act but I'll try to explain the situation. I have lost my inspiration to write my stories and continue them. Don't get me wrong: I get a lot of good ideas for my stories but for some reason I can't bring myself to write them (I even had difficulties to form this note)… Perhaps it's laziness, perhaps it's something else? Anyways, all my stories are on HIATUS until I get my inspiration back. I'm also thinking about putting this up for adoption but I'm still not sure about that (If someone feels that he/she could adopt Dead Wish, feel free to ask. I don't bite you know)… If anyone has questions, please send me a p.m…

Sorry for all those who liked my stories.

S.O.A.M. is off for now…


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